Masonry Heaters (eBook)

Designing, Building, and Living with a Piece of the Sun

Ken Matesz (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2010
352 Seiten
Chelsea Green Publishing (Verlag)
978-1-60358-311-4 (ISBN)

Infos

Masonry Heaters is a complete guide to designing and living with one of the oldest, and yet one of the newest, heating devices. A masonry heaters design, placement in the home, and luxurious radiant heat redefine the hearth for the modern era, turning it into a piece of the sun right inside the home. Like the feeling one gets from the sun on a spring day, the environment around a masonry heater feels fresh. The radiant heat feels better on the skin. It warms the home both gently and efficiently. In fact, the value of a masonry heater lies in its durability, quality, serviceability, dependability, and health-supporting features. And it is an investment in self-sufficiency and freedom from fossil fuels.The book discusses different masonry heater designs, including variations extant in Europe, and explains the growth of their popularity in the United States beginning in the late 1970s. For the reader who may be familiar only with open fireplaces and metal woodstoves, Masonry Heaters will bring a new understanding and appreciation of massive heat storage and gentle-but-persistent radiant heat. Masonry heaters offer a unique comfort that is superior to that from convection heat from forced-air systems, and more personal than that offered by radiant floors. As Matesz demonstrates, the heat from the sun or from a masonry heater is genuine heat instead of just insulation against the loss of heat.Those who are looking to build, add onto, or remodel a house will find comprehensive and practical advice for designing and installing a masonry heater, including detailed discussion of materials, code considerations, and many photos and illustrations. While this is not a do-it-yourself guide for building a masonry heater, it provides facts every heater builder should know. Professional contractors will find this a useful tool to consult, and homeowners considering a new method of home heating will find all they need to know about masonry heaters within these pages.

Inhalt

Foreword / Albie Barden

Introduction : What is a masonry heater?

Part 1. Redefining the Hearth

The hearth is the resaon for the house

A brief history of fire and hot rocks in North America

Thermal comfort : The vertical radiant advantage

Benefits of masonry heaters

Part 2. Designing a Piece of the Sun

Location

Design options

Heating requirements of the house

Part 3. Building a Piece of the Sun

The inner life : Cores and flues

Codes, clearances, footers, and foundations

Part 4. Living with a Piece of the Sun

Fuel to burn

Using a masonry heater, bakeoven, and cookstove

Masonry heater maintenance

Appendices

A. Resources

B. R-values of common building materials

C. Elevation and outside design temperatures for various cities

D. Heating degree days of various cities

Produkt-Details

• Erscheint lt. Verlag: 7.9.2010
• Vorwort: Albie Barden
• Zusatzinfo: Color photos and illustrations throughout
• Verlagsort: White River Junction
• Sprache: englisch
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Freizeit / Hobby ► Hausbau / Einrichten / Renovieren
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Freizeit / Hobby ► Heimwerken / Do it yourself
• Themenwelt: Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Gesundheit / Leben / Psychologie ► Lebenshilfe / Lebensführung
• Themenwelt: Technik ► Bauwesen
• Schlagworte: A Handmade Life • Building • building a house • cooking • cost of living crisis • DIY • freedom from fossil fuels • From the Wood-Fired Oven • heating a home in winter • house remodel • naturally heating a home • Self-Sufficiency • Slow Food • The Bread Builders • The Natural Building Companion • The Rammed Earth House • The Sauna
• ISBN-10: 1-60358-311-4 / 1603583114
• ISBN-13: 978-1-60358-311-4 / 9781603583114